SAS® access to Hadoop links leading analytics, big data

SAS increases access to critical data sources with Hadoop support in its updated SAS Enterprise Data Integration Server. Exploiting the popular open source data architecture helps customers using analytics from SAS, the leader in business analytics, increase the value of big data assets.

Hadoop joins more than three dozen supported data sources in SAS® Enterprise Data Integration Server, including Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Teradata including Teradata Aster, Sybase, Netezza, EMC Greenplum and MySQL. SAS support for Hadoop access is a key requirement for many organizations who are adding Hadoop to their environment. These enterprises include Macys.com, the online operation of the iconic retailer.

Sponsored by the Apache Software Foundation, Hadoop is an open source Java-based framework for processing large data sets in a distributed computing environment. SAS integrates with the Apache Hadoop distribution.

SAS' deep integration with Hadoop applies the parallelism of MapReduce, the distributed computing framework commonly associated with Hadoop. SAS, Hadoop and data warehouse infrastructure Hive match perfectly in analyzing large data sets, simplifying the most common big data analysis and analytic use cases.

"Hadoop is becoming more important as more organizations evaluate its capabilities and plan for increased deployment," said Jim Davis, SAS Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. "Bringing powerful SAS Analytics to Hadoop takes advantage of its distributed processing capabilities and helps effectively manage Hadoop deployments.

"Hadoop's value is in taking very large data collections – from simple, regular data to complex, unstructured data – and process it quickly," said Carl Olofson, IDC Research Vice President for Application Development and Deployment. "IDC expects commercial use of Hadoop to accelerate as more established enterprise software providers such as SAS make Hadoop accessible and easy to use."

Hadoop data can be federated along with data from other sources, including the ability to embed the federated query in a data management job flow.

Information Management

With data increasingly the basis for decisions, traditional data management falls short. The growing volume, velocity and variety of data compel enterprises to use data to provide the fourth and most important "v" – value.

And as businesses look for more value from their information assets, IT must deliver a unified infrastructure providing optimal performance and scalability. That means a service-based approach that supports a range of operational and analytical uses. It must blend cloud and on-premise offerings, delivering fast time to value with minimal infrastructure and people costs.

Enterprise readiness will improve as SAS customers gain increased scalability, performance and usability. Today's announcement is part of the SAS strategy for supporting customers with big data requirements. Future announcements will provide additional support for decision-making based on big data assets.